Frequent readers know that mystery stories are a personal favorite and that I have written very positively about the whodunits crafted by Anthony Horowitz; see for example The Word is Murder and The Sentence is Death. I particularly liked his 2017 Magpie Murders and was therefore looking forward to his latest “story within a story” featuring the publishing editor Susan Reyland: MOONFLOWER MURDERS. Sadly, it was not as obviously clever as earlier works. I once again enjoyed the embedded mystery novel by Alan Conway (titled Atticus Pund Takes the Case and edited by Reyland) which is featured and would honestly have been happy with that 1950s story as a stand-alone. Maybe it is just having a harder time concentrating during this COVID era, but the portion of MOONFLOWER MURDERS that deals with the real-life disappearance of the innkeepers’ adult daughter, Cecily, just seemed to drag a bit and I think re-reading would help me to spot more clues. There certainly was plenty of description including several pages which were included to explain how the fictional detective novel related to Reyland’s disappearance investigation. Numerous suspects exist in both case and the endings were surprising, as evidenced by the starred review which MOONFLOWER MURDERS received from Publishers Weekly. If you love mysteries, try these titles and let me know what you think.
Looking for something shorter? MIDWINTER MURDER by Agatha Christie contains a number of short stories by the prolific author and is subtitled “Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery.” These are fun and engaging short whodunits – perfect for Christie fans and anyone looking for a quick distraction. The dozen short stories average around 20 pages each and feature mainly lesser known tales involving Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and the Tommy and Tuppence duo. It’s difficult to believe that some of the tales are nearly 100 years old as they are still entertaining today; selections include “The Chocolate Box,” “The Plymouth Express,” and “A Christmas Tragedy.” Even if you have read some selections before, MIDWINTER MURDER is still a treat to enjoy! Happy Holidays!
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